Hanley has enjoyed hiking, packing, hunting and skiing in the Wallowa and Blue Mountains for over 47 years and appreciates the need to maintain backcountry trails. Growing up in the mid-west where there is no wilderness and very little public land he understands the need for and has worked to create public access for all users.

Hanley was the Union County Planning Director for 36 years and was involved in the purchase of the Mt. Emily Recreation Area and the Grande Ronde River Greenway near La Grande. He served 8 years on the Oregon Land Conservation & Development Commission and 10 years on the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council. He is retired, lives with his lovely wife Deb on 10 acres near Cove and thinks of the Wallowas as an extension of his back yard.   

Russ West and his wife Mary have been hiking and packing in the Eagle Cap Wilderness and the Bob Marshall Wilderness in Montana for the past 32 years. They have horses and mules, and enjoy using them to support projects, believing that both foot soldiers and the cavalry are needed to maintain our trails. They also enjoy the freedom and flexibility of backpacking. 

Russ enjoys gravity sports like mountain biking (not in the wilderness, of course) and back country skiing in the Elkhorn and Wallowa Mountains. Mary is a great camp cook and also likes to work on the trails.

Russ was a district attorney for Union County for 18 years, then circuit judge for Union and Wallowa counties for 15 years until he retired in 2018. He is now a senior judge and works 35 days a year. While attending law school Russ worked as a smokejumper for five years. Russ and Mary have a timber stand which they enjoy managing. One of Russ‘s favorite activities is logging. 

Terry was born in New Orleans and spent much of her childhood in the panhandle of Florida and eastern Tennessee. She eventually made her way over the west coast to study Acupuncture in Portland, Oregon. She lived in Portland for 12 years spending much of her free time exploring the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their dog. 

Terry moved to Wallowa County in 2022 to open an acupuncture practice called Eagle Cap Wellness. She joined WMHCTA to learn more about the trails in this area and to share her love of nature. In 2024 she became secretary for WMHCTA and looks forward to more exploring and time out on the trails in the years to come.

Brent Lewis is a retired CPA and life-long resident of Union County. He has been active in the community, is an avid outdoorsman and appreciative of our environment. He feels maintaining our system of trails provides opportunity for others to experience and enjoy the solitude and beauty of our area.

Jim’s career has been heavily tied to mountains, wilderness, and backcountry travel. As a field station manager/scientist for the University of Idaho, he has been a wilderness skills instructor – stock use – for USFS wilderness rangers and packers, for Idaho Fish & Game conservation officers, and many university students over the past three decades. His specialty is packing mules in remote places, doing heavy work with mules in harness, and mentoring all ages on traditional backcountry skills.

For 21 years (year-round) he lived within the Frank Church Wilderness in Idaho 35 miles from a road-end. As a job necessity, he traveled and cleared trails during all seasons, starting in 1982 and ending in 2010. In his early professional years, he was a wilderness planner for the BLM during the Hells Canyon review process for the southern boundary expansion of Hells Canyon Wilderness.

He is currently acting on the Board of the Oregon Hunters Association (OHA) and is the Training Officer for the Wallowa County Search and Rescue Unit.

Holly Akenson is a founding member of the WMHCTA. She is committed to keeping our wilderness trails in good condition after experiencing first-hand the difficulty of wilderness travel due to deferred maintenance. Holly has volunteered on trail work with WMHCTA since 2017 and served as its' first Treasurer.  Holly's favorite way to experience the wilderness is riding and packing her mules.

Holly was raised in Eastern Oregon and did her first backpacking trips in the Eagle Cap and Hells Canyon in the 1970s. She had a career as a wildlife biologist, working in Eastern Oregon and Idaho studying wolves, cougars, bighorns, and birds, and teaching university students wilderness skills and ecology. Holly and husband Jim lived in a log cabin in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness for 21 years managing University of Idaho's Taylor Ranch Field Station. Holly enjoys working with Wallowa County Search and Rescue with her search dog Cider,  riding mules, hunting, gardening and studying nature.

Rick Bombaci has lived in Wallowa County since 1980, where he has made a living in varied guises:  high school teacher, computer professional, small business owner, business consultant, non-profit director, and USFS wilderness ranger.

An avid long-distance hiker and mountaineer, Rick has more than 5,000 miles of backpacking under his belt, including long distance hikes in the Colorado Rockies, the Sierra Nevada, the Canadian Rockies, and on the Appalachian Trail (GaMe 2000). As a wilderness ranger, he has hiked extensively in the Hells Canyon and Eagle Cap wilderness areas.

In addition to hiking, Rick's interests include art, literature, music, and his grandson.

Lantz grew up in N.E. Oregon. Spent many early years keeping up with older  siblings in the Eagle Caps, mostly  in Bear creek above Wallowa. Lantz's grandparents owned a cabin near the end of Bear Creek road. That said, all family vacations, hunting, fishing, and horsing around took  place in that  canyon.  Lantz's  father  was adamant about protecting the backcountry of Eastern Oregon and remembers helping his dad (Loren) entertain folks  that had the same interests in wilderness protection. "If my father felt  you had not been there, you need to go and see for yourself why it needed protection."  Lantz has great passion for the back country his father set aside for future generations. "Dad didn't make these wilderness areas for us not to enjoy." Maintenance on the trails into Wilderness areas is vital for everyone to get in and understand why it is wilderness today.  Lantz is employed with ODOT.  You can see him installing highway signs throughout NE Oregon, and plowing snow near Elgin.  He also will disappear in  the Idaho Wilderness areas from time to time. 

Born and raised in Oregon, Morgan grew up in the Gresham area and then moved to LaGrande to attend college at Eastern Oregon University.  He graduated from Oregon State University with a degree Range Management and Crop Science.

Morgan is involved in a number of outdoor related groups which support public access for hunting and fishing...

• President of the Union/Wallowa County Chapter of the Oregon Hunters Association

• Hunter Rep. of the ODFW Access and Habitat State Board

• ODFW Bear and Cougar Agent

• Board Member of the Wallowa Mountains Hells Canyon Trails Association

In his spare time you will find Morgan in a drift boat stocking trout and steelhead, leading a pack string, running his hounds, hunting and fishing across the Western US and around the world.

Lora grew up on a small farm in rural West Virginia, where she learned to love the forests, hills, and streams. Lora moved to Wallowa County in October 2017 to work as a fisheries biologist with the Nez Perce Tribe. 

Prior to moving to NE Oregon, Lora spent the last 12-15 years working throughout the western United States from the desert southwest to southwest Alaska. Wherever she has been over the years, the local trail systems have been an important part of her daily life. Lora is happy to have settled in an area rich in mountains, canyons, prairies, and a trail network that connects them.  She is grateful to have the opportunity to help maintain the extensive network of trails in the Wallowa Mountains and Hells Canyon. 

In addition to hiking, backpacking, and trail running, Lora also enjoys backcountry snowboarding, cross-country skiing, fishing, reading, cooking, gardening, and spending time with her family (including her four-legged fur child).

Daarla works for ODFW and is a full time farmer/rancher in Joseph, Oregon.  She worked for the Forest Service in Hells Canyon Recreation/Trails from 1990 to 2003.  Daarla assisted in designing and building 220 miles of new trail and oversaw contract maintenance or worked on trail crews maintaining trails and facilities in Hells Canyon.   She rescues horses and mules and uses them on the ranch and for Search and Rescue and in the backcountry.  She is a member of Wallowa County Search and Rescue and Captain of the equine team. She spends her spare time riding after their cattle, camping with her stock, and enjoying her grandchildren. 

Elnora has been returning to the Wallowas for over 20 years since driving the Nez Perce National Historic Trail in 2001, and starting that trip in Wallowa County.  She is now a permanent resident.  Before retiring in 2019, she was an executive with a health care system responsible for strategic planning, marketing, hospital construction, and contracts with health plans. Elnora loves living among Ponderosa pines, close to two of the main trail heads into the Eagle Cap Wilderness, and is thrilled to share land with wild animals.  And one domestic one! 

A native Oregonian, I grew up exploring the east side of the Cascades, developing a deep connection to the land. With a passion for ultra trail running, fly fishing, and backpacking, I’ve spent many years enjoying and exploring the backcountry. I believe in the importance of maintaining these trails not only for the physical and mental benefits they provide, but as a means of fostering a deeper connection to the natural world. I am dedicated to giving back for the opportunities I’ve had to experience Oregon’s wild places. By promoting education, stewardship, and respect for the land, I hope to ensure that these spaces remain accessible and protected for future generations.  

Pam loves being out in nature, giving back to our community, and preserving the natural world.   She has been a part of the WMHCTA for several years, and appreciates the skills and collective knowledge of all of the members.    She encourages people to join in any capacity they are able.

Mike Hansen has worked and recreated extensively in the Eagle Cap, and Wenaha-Tucannon Wildernesses, as well as in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area since 1990.  He primarily travels the backcountry by backpack, but has used horses and mules on occasion.  

Mike also enjoys big game hunting, photography, birdwatching, butterfly watching, and sharpening crosscut saws.  His experience with rope rescue in Search and Rescue work got him interested in climbing and trimming trees as a hobby.  

After spending the past 23 years working in the backcountry of Wallowa County as a wildlife biologist for Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.   He has also volunteered for Wallowa County Search and Rescue for the past 25 years.  Since retiring from the ODFW Mike has spent time traveling, backpacking, and administering a community science project on iNaturalist – the Northeast Oregon Beaver Survey.  

 A mother to three sons, Nikki enjoys backpacking, camping, walking, foraging, and hunting with her family. She also works as a multi-generational artist, craftswoman, and teaches arts and traditional craft in rural Eastern Oregon schools as well as working as a florist in Enterprise. 

Nikki is from a small ranch in the Rocky Mountain foothills near the Northern Colorado/Southern Wyoming border.   She lived in Tibet and Western China for 7 years,  then returned to Northeast Oregon where she resides today.   "It's necessary and good as a part of the land to give back, so that when I harvest the plants and animals to eat,  I work to leave something good behind that reciprocates benefit and care for other living neighbors.  Working with the fine community of the WMHCTA  is a small way I can do that."